Buffalo Nichols
Blues / Americana / Roots Folk
Milwaukee, Wisconsin / Austin, Texas
The Lone Star State has been graced by some phenomenal guitar talent over the years. From the legends like SRV to modern day slingers like Gary Clark Jr., the essence of the blues has been alive and well from one generation to the next. Joining the ranks of Gary Clark Jr. and helping to bear the torch is Houston-born-Milwaukee-raised blues guitarist and singer Carl “Buffalo” Nichols.
The troubadour got his start cutting his teeth between baptist churches and bars in Brew City after growing up in the predominantly black North End of the city, Nichols found his self-expression in the form of a guitar. Finding his way through life, the workforce and travel led him overseas to the Ukraine, Berlin, and Senegal. All that to say, his experience is wrapped up in more than just the blues. Being self-proclaimed raised in the punk scene and the 90s midwestern emo scene of Sunny Day Real Estate and the likes, Nichols pulls influence from all avenues. Last year, Mississippi-based Fat Possum Records signed Nichols, their first signing of a blues artist in almost two decades after shifting away from their Townes Van Zandt and RL Burnside beginnings to more rock-focused bands.
Nichols Self-Titled debut album dropped in the middle part of last month, and it is clear that his blues falls more on the americana side of things with the traditional, acoustic and resonator guitar styling - but nonetheless it is a breathtaking journey of storytelling and sets up Nichols to be featured as an opener on tours with the likes of Gary Clark, Black Pumas, etc and to hit the festival circuit as a early morning discovery act or midday Newport find.
/nbt.fm